


Please Say...... Sike

by sketchypotato



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Character Study, F/M, Madara's POV, Relationship Study, Spoiler's for the Shinsengumi event, or at least an attempt at one, the titles a joke bcos i ran out of ideas but the fic itself is serious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 14:46:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14896559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sketchypotato/pseuds/sketchypotato
Summary: It was meant to be a harmless white lie. He wasn't supposed to keep it up for so long. His feelings weren't supposed to change.





	Please Say...... Sike

**Author's Note:**

> Hewwo it's your local MadaAn fan with..... A Lot of thoughts about this event. This fic is kind of an attempt to sort of those thoughts, because after rereading all of Madara's events I'm not actually less confused, lmao.
> 
> This is kind of... what I think Madara's feeling towards Anzu are over the year, from the first meeting to ~golden wishing live. I'm definitely biased and its taken with a lot of liberties tho so feel free to disagree, otherwise I hope you enjoy my attempt at understanding this cryptid 
> 
> Oh yeah the title is inspired by that post by the yumenosaki_anzu twitter account. I am a meme loving shit at heart.

It wasn’t entirely a lie. It was true that they had played a few times together as children, they just weren’t as close as he pretended they were. The times they spent together were too short and too long ago to expect anyone without his superhuman memory to remember. But Madara is one to use everything at his disposal, and when he finds out that the infamous transfer student who led a group of rookies to victory against fine is someone he knows, even a little bit, well he can’t miss this chance can he?

Besides, a little exaggeration never hurt anyone, not that he had been above hurting others before. It was a good excuse to get closer to Anzu, and by extension Trickstar, and he would have found a way to do so anyway. By letting her assume that they were already close friends, it would be easier for her to open up to him and listen to his advice, indirectly shaping Trickstar for his revolution.

Or at least that’s how it meant to work, because in reality Anzu still ignores him or hides when he calls out her name, and she absolutely refuses to call him Mama. He’s too loud and embarrassing, she says, and even in the times she seems willing to speak to him the conversations keep ending with her running away. How interesting, the way things turned out! It makes him want to chase her even more, even if he gets hit by a few paper fans in the process.

It’s not hard to see why the transfer student is loved by everyone else in the school. Anzu is a sweet girl, and it's almost endearing to see her work so hard. From the Wisteria Festival to the School Festival, every time Madara sees her she seems to be in the middle of a job of some kind. It gives him many opportunities to give her “advice”, and in the meantime not-so-subtly hint at how much he “cares” for her, so she should really call upon him more often and listen to his advice. It’s a good thing she’s so eager to learn and listen, slowly overcoming her fear to do so, because helping the units she’s producing benefits both of them. She also seems to take some genuine interest in getting to know him as a friend due to their supposed “past”, and he’s happy to play along. She’s an interesting character after all.

It’s a white lie, but a win-win situation.

 

 

He didn’t think she would worry that much over the absent memories. He definitely did not expect her to feel guilty over it, or to tire herself over thanking him for his selfish deeds. Maybe the lie wasn’t as harmless as he’d like to tell himself, but he didn’t think it would end up hurting her _this_ much.

Then again, how often does he realise how much he’s hurting others until its ‘s too late?

As Madara sees Anzu’s sleeping figure, he has a deep sinking feeling in his gut. He isn’t deserving of the love in every stitch, or the gratitude she wants to show him, or the effort in future that she has promised. Anzu is too good, because who else worries so much about forgetting your childhood friend? He may have told Kuro that he didn’t feel any guilt, but the clenching in his chest suggested otherwise. Maybe if he shook her awake right now and told her everything he would be able to get rid of it, but it’s hard to do so when she looks so peaceful asleep.

He doesn’t need Kuro’s threats to know what to do. He may have thrown out his morals a long time ago, but even a failed hero like him can see that Anzu deserves better. It would be better for her at this point for him to maintain the facade, to continue supporting her as a producer and a kind “childhood friend”, now for a different reason. An illusion of friendship, at least, would prevent any further hurt and keep the smile on her face, for now. It would barely make it up to her, but it’s too late for him to take back his actions, and this is all that he knows he can do.  

 

 

Madara wonders how much Rei knows of the truth, whether he’s secretly testing him when he gives him the task to support Anzu. If Rei knows anything, which he usually does in this school, he doesn’t show it, going on to talk about how childhood friends are like family.

Family, huh.

He’s pretty sure he shouldn’t be the one for this job, not just because they aren’t actual childhood friends, but also his tendency to scare her off hasn’t seemed to have gotten any better. It’s a tricky thing, trying to be supportive without being overbearing, and Madara tends to be the latter. It doesn’t help that besides his verbal advice on producing, Anzu often rejects any actual offers to help. It’s probably karma for all his ill intentions before, and while her tendency to take on more than she should is chew is beginning to look concerning, he doesn’t feel the right to stop her.

“So I do want to protect her as much as I can,” he says, and it surprises himself how much that almost sounds… true. Well, he is in the process of atoning for his sins, so protecting Anzu is probably part of that. He can’t deny a request from Rei either, so he supposes he would do what he can, and quickly diverts the conversation to other topics. This small lie was already becoming much bigger than he had planned.

 

 

As it turns out, Anzu had plenty of other friends at the aquarium to tell her to relax more and rely on others. As it also turns out, it seems like she isn’t listening to any of them. Taking on the Fleur De Lis on top of producing for Trickstar’s SS and the Scroll of the Elements is practically suicide, but it is also a problem for the idols that she is their only available producer. It’s a good thing Madara is also able to act as a producer when needed, and of course he would do anything to help out Leo. It’s a benefit of being alone in his unit.

Anzu bows really low to thank Madara, even when he says its no problem. Really, this girl is too diligent, there is nothing she needs to thank him for when she should be relying on others anyway. He gives he another reminder to relax and call on him for help more often, a suggestion which is met with a blank stare followed by some frantic nodding. It’s advice that she has heard many times, but by the time the conversation is over and Anzu has left Madara is pretty sure she is going to try and overwork herself again, and something needs to be done about that. A truly troublesome “childhood friend” she has turned out to be.

 

 

“Where do you need to go, Anzu-san?”

“Well, there’s the store room at level 2, and then-“

“Alright hold on tight Anzu-san, Super Express Mama No.1 let’s goooooooooooooo~! ☆”

Anzu holds on tight to his shoulders as Madara speeds down the hall, carrying her. She lets out a yelp at the start, and can barely see the other students as they past by. They reach the store room in no time, and its amazing that Madara barely seems to break a sweat when her own heart is beating so fast.

Anzu tries her best to re-steady herself on his shoulders as Madara walks up to the shelves.

“It’s that box of props over there. You can put me down, Mikejima-senpai.”

Madara picks up the box and passes it to Anzu. “Ah, but doesn’t Anzu-san still have more places to go? It’ll be much easier if I carry you all the way.”

Anzu balances the box on his head, considering her response. “You really don’t need to help me so much…” her voice trails off.

In a way, he doesn’t have to anymore. He hasn’t had a need for Trickstar for months, and if he was just trying to appease his own guilt or keep up an act he wouldn’t have to go so far. But when he sees Anzu trying to take on the school’s Halloween event by herself, he just _has_ to barge into her work. That’s why he gathers up Ryuseitai and Ra*bits to help and guides her in contacting the new handlers. It’s a shame she wasn’t able to join the fun at their sleepover, but at least she seemed to be enjoying herself now. Everyone wants to see Anzu succeed, including Madara, and he wants to help her get there without overdoing it.

Is it guilt? An obligation? He’s no longer sure, but it’s hard to leave Anzu alone when she’s always trying so earnestly to help everyone without concern for herself. It’s almost like looking at his own past mistakes, mistakes he doesn’t want her to make, and he realises he’s genuinely concerned for her now.

 “How cruel for you to say that, Anzu-san! I’m your Mama, after all, I’m doing this because I love you~! ☆”

 

 

This was the worst possible situation. Anzu may not be dead, but holding her unconscious body in her arms still fills Madara with a deep sense of dread. He should have been more forceful in supporting her, he should have helped her even when she’d rejected him, so that even if she hated him she would at least be well and healthy. But it’s too late to think of what could’ve been, now all he can do is help Shinobu and bring her to the hospital, and hope for the best.

He knew that she would try to do everything on her own, and yet he didn’t try hard enough to stop her. It’s pathetic, almost. He knew yet he had been holding back to prevent smothering her, almost unsure whether he had a right to interfere with her work too much after all he done. He had spent most of the year lying and scaring her off after all.

And despite all this, Anzu had still believed in him. She still tried her best to get to know him, taking his technical advice to heart and cheering him up when she could. The good-natured teasing between them was something he had come to enjoy, and between that and the companionship of his other friends it has truly helped him understand why Yumenosaki was a much happier place now, and that he really didn’t need to be alone. It was something he was still struggling to learn, but Anzu’s sincerity is contagious. Her kind smile was something he didn’t want to see lost to her insecurities and overworking nature.

So he puts his all into organising the hospital live, gathering the students and teachers and getting the necessary equipment ready. He isn’t the only one who wants to show appreciation to Anzu, and with the help of everyone the show is set to go smoothly. It is a performance that any producer would be proud of, and it’s the least he can do to thank her.

Shinobu watches as Madara briefs the staff for the last time before the live. Anzu has already been brought to the audience area, and he has to help make sure everything’s in place for the live to go perfectly.

“Mikejima-dono has really worked hard for this.” Shinobu comments with a smile. “You really care about Anzu-dono a lot, don’t you?”

A pause, and Madara’s expression is unreadable, but then he replies with a gentle smile and ruffles up Shinobu’s hair.

“Of course! Don’t we all.”

 

 

Falling in love was never part of the plan, but Madara supposes it’s just like himself to ruin his chances before he even had them. Not that it matters, supporting from the sides has always suited him more, even if it hurts just a little bit.

It’s not a matter of if Anzu finds out about the “childhood friend” lie, but when, and Madara knows that. And then what would happen after that? Would she hate and avoid him for it? He wouldn’t blame her, and part of him almost hopes that she does, he’s not sure if his heart could handle otherwise. He’s not ready for forgiveness just yet, not when he can clearly imagine the disappointment on her face, not when he has so many more sins to atone for.

Until then, he would do his best to keep that smile on her face, such as by singing his heart out at this hospital live. Because Anzu deserves all the love in the world, and though his may be tainted he wants to give her all that he can. For as long as she would let him, as long as it would make her happy, this “childhood friend” will always be there for her.

**Author's Note:**

> *wheeze* Madara's POV is hard to write guys, I'm sorry
> 
> Btw if anyone wants to read the order of events Madara appears in (iirc) is wisteria event -> runway gacha-> shinsengumi/revolutionary live (most recent) -> concerto gacha-> aquarium event -> fleur de lis event-> halloween event-> wishing live event ->christmas 2017 gacha -> zodiac part. 2 gacha-> beasts gacha 
> 
> twitter @spacetier


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